Barry Landau

Barry H. Landau (born c. 1948) is a noted thief of presidential artifacts,[1] collector of presidential artifacts,[2] author,[3] and "self-styled 'America's Presidential Historian'".[4] In July 2011, Landau's associate, 24-year-old Jason Savedoff, was seen taking a document out of a library.[5] After investigation and searches, Landau and Savedoff were "charged with stealing valuable historical documents from the Maryland Historical Society and conspiring to steal documents from other archives."[6] After pleading guilty, Landau was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in June 2012.

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Landau stated his interest in the presidency began at the age of 10, when his mother took him to see then President Dwight D. Eisenhower; he claimed to have spoken with both the president and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower at that time.[2] The Wall Street Journal, however, reported that he wrote a letter to the president and received a card in reply.[7]

He worked as a press agent in New York in the 1970s and 1980s.[2] He also claimed that "he was a protocol officer under President Gerald R. Ford and that he once traveled to Moscow with President Richard M. Nixon," though the presidential libraries could find no supporting evidence.[4]

The staff of the Maryland Historical Society became suspicious of the behavior of frequent visitors Landau and 24-year-old Jason Savedoff, whom Landau had identified as his nephew, though they are not related.[7] Landau "certainly was very personable; he had class. He knew how to conduct himself in a research library, but Savedoff, of whom little is known, was 'rough around the edges' and 'repeatedly asked naive questions,' he said".[5]

Papers on file in federal court in Maryland show that the FBI also recovered documents stolen from historical societies or museums in Connecticut and Vermont.[12] In total, more than ten thousand items were taken.[11][13] Their worth has been estimated as high as US$ 2.5 million.[13]

Landau and Savedoff were jailed in Baltimore and indicted by a federal grand jury in late July 2011.[6] Landau was released with GPS monitoring.[6] Savedoff surrendered his American and Canadian passports, and was released on $250,000 bail.[6]

Both defendants pleaded guilty, Savedoff in October 2011 and Landau in February 2012.[15] On June 27, 2012, Landau was sentenced to seven years in prison. He also had to pay restitution of $46,525 to dealers who unwittingly purchased stolen documents from him.[14]

The rightful owners of all the stolen documents recovered have been identified. As of May 2013[update], only twenty percent of the documents have been returned to them. The remainder should be returned in coming months.[11]